


The Boy Next Door

by Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes/pseuds/Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes
Summary: Growing up next door to your best friend is every kids dream and Niall and Zayn were living that dream, the two had been best friends and neighbours since they were 5. They did everything together and you couldn’t keep them away from each other and gradually over the years Zayn found himself falling in love with his best friend but Niall doesn’t feel that way about Zayn, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another old work of mine that I found, I thought I would post it.  
> Hope you like it! :)

It’s not even time to get up yet and Zayn’s dreading going back to school for the last semester, it’s not even the thought of school that makes him hate everything, it’s the people and teachers. He hates them with a passion except maybe his friends and his English teacher, they’re the only people that doesn’t make Zayn want to rip his hair out. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling before looking at his phone to check the time, 6:55am, he doesn’t even need to be up for another 30 minutes. He groans as he sits up and rubs his eyes, he needs a smoke so he grabs his pack and goes towards the window sill and opening the window just enough so his room doesn’t smell like smoke, god knows what his parents would say if they came in to his room and caught him doing it without having the windows open.

He lights it up and takes a drag, just letting the early morning breeze flow through his bedroom. he leans back against the wall and closes his eyes and listens to the wind blowing through the trees, the birds chirping and…Green Day? Don’t get Zayn wrong he likes Green Day but not at 7:00am, he opens his eyes to see the one person he always wakes up to, his frown turns into a smile when he looks out his window to see his best friend, Niall Horan.

Niall’s looking over into Zayn’s room and directly at Zayn, he waves to Niall before putting out his cigarette and closing the windows and curtains. He gets back into bed and closes his eyes until his alarm goes off, he knows he’s playing a risky game but it’s a risk he’s willing to take if that means he misses the first day of the last semester of school. It’s not like he’s missing out on anything exciting, same shit but a different day. Sadly, enough his alarm woke him up, so much for sleeping through it…

Zayn can’t be bothered to get up but he knows if he doesn’t his mum or one of his sisters would come in and throw a cup of water over his head and he doesn’t want that especially on a Monday morning. He drags himself out of bed and into the bathroom which luckily isn’t being used, means he can spend a little bit longer in there this morning. He yawns as he turns on the shower, strips off and gets underneath the warm water which relaxes him instantly. He stands under the water for a while before shampooing and conditioning his hair, a knock on the door breaks him out of his relaxation.

“Get out Zayn!”

“I’m getting out!”

He hates being interrupted but he knows is he doesn’t get out someone will make sure the water gets turned to cold, he steps out and grabs his towel before wrapping it round his waist, he steps out the bathroom and comes face to face with his mum who isn’t looking very impressed,

“Good morning mum, what can I do for you?”

“Nothing, just wanted to tell you to stop wasting the water and to wish you good luck for today”

“Thanks mum”

“Now go get dressed, breakfast is waiting downstairs for you and you better hurry, your sisters will eat it all”

He goes back down the hallway to his bedroom and heads towards his wardrobe, he doesn’t know why people dress up on their first day of school but he’s not one of them. he settles on his black skinny jeans with the rips in them, his Pink Floyd shirt and a jacket he suspects is clean, he’s not sure. He turns around and open the window again, his room could do with a cool down actually, he turns around and goes to his drawers to grab a pair of underwear and he turns around when he hears someone wolf whistle,

“Looking good Malik, very good” Niall winks and Zayn loves Niall but he doesn’t want to talk to anyone yet so he jokingly flips him off,

“Piss off Horan…but thank you. shouldn’t you be getting ready too? I mean no offense but not everybody can look like me, some people need time to look good…” Zayn smirks as Niall laughs dryly at Zayn before yelling out to him,

“Love you too Malik!” Niall blows him a kiss and winks, Zayn blushes and shakes his head and laughs before waving and getting dressed and heading downstairs, he’ll do his hair later after he’s eaten. Once he gets downstairs he doesn’t have much food left to eat so he grabs some toast and heads back up the stairs to do his hair. His phone buzzes on the bed, it's just Harry telling Zayn he’ll meet him at school.

He leaves the house at 8:15 to try and beat the traffic. On the way he starts to hate everything even more than he did before, he didn’t get caught up in any traffic and at this moment he wishes he did. He pulls into the school parking lot at 8:30 and he looks at everyone and remembers how much he hates everybody at this school.

Luckily there’s a spot right next to Liam, he pulls in and gets out as Harry stands against the side and who like Zayn looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. He slams the door shut and a few people turn towards him and he glares at a few of them before they look away, Harry rests his hand on Zayn’s shoulder,

“You okay Z?”

Zayn groans in response and Harry laughs as he does, “I’ll take that as a no…come on, I told Liam I’d meet him inside” The two of them walk into the building ignoring all the stares from other people, many of them are looking away once they see Zayn looking at them. For some reason they’re a little bit scared of him and he kind of likes it that way, they meet Liam at their lockers and he’s on his phone probably texting Louis asking him where he is,

“Hey Li, what’s up?”

“Hey guys, you alright?”

“Just great!” Zayn hits his head on the locker and all Liam does is laugh,

“Don’t worry mate, one more semester then we’re out of here”

Another laugh comes but it isn’t from Liam or Harry, it comes from down the other end of the hall. Zayn knows that laugh anywhere, he lifts his head up and Niall comes into view. Everybody in the hallway turns towards him and he pulls his girlfriend, Paige in for a hug and they start to make out in the middle of the hallway, Zayn rolls his eyes as he tries to hide his jealousy.

Niall might be Zayn’s best friend and next-door neighbour and childhood crush, but at school he’s Niall Horan, the school’s golden boy. Soccer Captain, musician and all-round legend, Niall and his ‘crews’ words and not Zayn’s, he can agree with Niall being a legend seeing as they’ve been friends since they were 5 and when Niall moved to town. Zayn watches Niall as he strolls down the hallway alongside Louis Tomlinson, co-captain of the soccer team, drama queen and another one of Zayn’s best friends.

Niall comes up to Zayn and jumps on his back, “Missed you mate”

“We saw each other last night and this morning weirdo”

“I know but still…”

Niall gets off Zayn’s back and stands against the lockers groaning as he watches Liam and Louis making out against the lockers. Zayn groans too and turns his head away and he can see Harry standing off to the side staring daggers into the back of Louis head. Zayn grabs Harry’s wrist and checks to see if he’s okay, Harry looks at Zayn and he feels bad for Harry. He doesn’t deserve to see the person he loves be in love with someone else, Zayn knows how that feels though.

Zayn wishes he didn’t have to be here this morning but the bell rings bringing him out of the thought of wanting to crawl up into a ball and die right in the middle of the hallway. Niall pats him on the shoulder and walks off when Paige comes up to him and wraps her manicured hands round Niall’s arm, Zayn bangs his head on the lockers before grabbing Harry’s wrist and dragging him into homeroom, Liam and Louis won’t be too far behind them. They grab the two seats at the back of the class, Liam and Louis walk through the door a couple of minutes later with their hands linked together and Zayn watches Harry out the corner of his eye, he’s got his head on the desk and Zayn laughs quietly and rubs his back.

Zayn looks forward to see Niall sitting at the front instead of at the back with the others but he looks next to Niall and he finds Paige sitting there twirling her hair round her fingers, god Zayn hates her sometimes, he looks away but looks forward again when the whole homeroom makes a noise, he finds himself feeling sick as he watches Niall with his tongue down his girlfriend throat.

He hasn’t even been sitting down for long and he already wants to leave school. He hopes the day get’s better…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Turns out the day couldn’t get worse, Zayn wants to punch something. All because he had to watch Niall and Paige together in class, when the bell rings to signal the end of the day, Zayn couldn’t be happier. He meets Harry out by his car and he’s looking like he wants to leave right now, Zayn feels bad that he’s had to stand with Liam and Louis who are making out against Liam’s car. Zayn rests his hand on Harry’s shoulder,

“Hey Z, you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here…”

They say goodbye to Louis and Liam who aren’t even paying any attention to anything around them, Zayn smack Louis on the back of the head before getting into his car and turning the engine on. He reverses out the parking spot and drives out the carpark, Harry’s in the passenger seat looking a little bit depressed,

“What’s up mate?”

“The usual, Louis constantly snogging Liam in front of me knowing very well I have feelings for Liam and just being annoying in general”

“Aw sorry mate, wish I could help you with that but you know how Louis is”

“True, but it’s hard when you live next door to him and that’s all you really see whenever Liam’s round”

“yeah, same with me and Niall. All I ever see is him and Paige together with their tongues down each other’s throats.”

Harry laughs at Zayn’s annoyance with Niall and Paige. Zayn smacks him gently on the shoulder before turning back to the road, he can’t stop thinking about how hard it must be for Harry to see the person he loves with someone else and then have to watch them together all the time,

“You want me to drop you off or you coming round to mine?”

“Yours sounds good right now, that’s if you don’t mind…”

“Nah, it’s fine”

Zayn pulls into his driveway and the two get out the car and head inside and upstairs to Zayn’s room, he walks over to his window and looks out to see Niall sitting on the window sill and strumming his guitar, Zayn waves a little bit too eagerly when Niall looks over and Harry laughs from behind him and he turns around and walks over to him before smacking him playfully on the arm and pushing him down onto the bed, “Shut up Styles” He turns back around to close the curtains and Niall’s looking into Zayn’s room with one eyebrow raised and a smile on his face, he shakes his head when Zayn shrugs his shoulders.

****

Harry ends up leaving a little bit later and Zayn finds himself on the window sill with the window open a little bit as he sits down and listens to music and draws in peace. He’s in the middle of drawing when he hears a bang, he lifts his head up to inspect what it was when his eyes land on Niall who has Paige attached to his neck, she’s being put down onto his desk and Zayn scoffs. He hates seeing those two together so before he can see anything else happen Zayn gets down off the window sill and grabs his phone from his bed and sends Harry a text,

_‘I’m coming round, be there in 10’_

He leaves a note for him parents letting them know he won’t be home till later, Zayn gets in his car and head round to Harry’s. he pulls in the driveway and Harry comes out the door with his jacket in his hand, Harry gets in the car and Zayn looks to him in confusion, “What’s going on? Where you going?”

“Getting in the car, can we go somewhere other than here?”

“Of course, mate, you want to go get something to eat? That might make you feel better?”

“Yes please! I need some air”

Zayn laughs as he reverses out the driveway, Zayn drives towards their usual place and they grab some food and take it to the little lookout on the top of the hill. Zayn parks the car and turns off the engine, he gets out and sits on the hood of his car and Harry joins him a second later,

“This is better, I need this”

“Me too, I almost had to watch Niall screw Paige on of his desk and that is something I don’t ever want to witness or hear in my life”

“Sorry mate, forgot you’re in love with Niall”

“Yeah, why did you want to leave the house?”

“Same reasons as you really, Louis thought it would be a good idea to get into Liam’s pants while I was able to see quite clearly what they were doing”

“Oh Haz, don’t worry, you’ll be able to ignore it like do whenever Paige has decided she wants to fuck Niall”

“Yeah I guess”

The sun starts to set as Zayn and Harry finish on top of the hill, they drive off when an idea pops into Zayn’s head, “How about you come back round to mine, mum won’t mind if you stay for a while. Besides I think she prefers you over me so…”

“That’s probably true…” once again Zayn slaps Harry on the arm and tells him to shut up.

****

When Zayn pulls onto his driveway everybody seems to be home, he parks the car and when he gets out the car he looks over to see Niall standing on the front door step as he watches as Paige leaves to go home, when he looks at Zayn he smiles and waves before turning back into his house and closing the door, Zayn smiles before unlocking his front door, he accidentally slams the front door before dropping his keys in the bowl, his mum yells at him from the other room, “Don’t slam the door! It hasn’t done anything to you!”

“Sorry! I bought someone home with me” Zayn walks into the kitchen with Harry trailing behind, he’s expecting to be yelled at again but when his mum turns around she smiles before walking over to Harry and pulling him in for a hug. Zayn was right about his mum liking Harry more than him, but he doesn’t really mind because it’s Harry and she always does it when the other boys are round.

“What’s wrong with you? Surely, you’re not annoyed with me because I told you not to slam the door? You’re such a drama queen sometimes

“Not annoyed with you, I’m tired…first day back at school sucked” Zayn kisses his mum on the cheek before turning around and walking out the kitchen and up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Zayn wakes up 30 minutes before his alarm again but this time it’s because of Niall. He’s sitting outside on his window sill playing his guitar again, usually Zayn would hate being woken up early but if it’s to Niall playing Wonderwall then he can’t complain. He runs his hand through his hair before getting up and walking over to the window,

“You alright?”

Niall puts his guitar down and smiles brightly, “Yeah, I’m fine, couldn’t sleep at all last night…did you want me to stop?”

“No, keep going…it’s a nice way to wake up actually”

Niall smiles as he continues and Zayn just closes his eyes and listens until his alarm goes off. Zayn groans as he gets off the window sill and waves to Niall who just laughs at him.

****

Zayn goes to pick Harry up that morning and the two drive to school wishing they could go back home and sleep, they meet up with the other three and just like yesterday they have to watch their friends stick their tongues down each other’s throats, they clear their throats and everyone turns to look at them, Harry sighs before harshly speaking

“Can you lot stop for 5 minutes? You see each other pretty much all day every day”

“You’re just jealous”

“Louis, shut the fuck up, I am not jealous!” Louis stands next to Zayn with a smirk on his face and looking directly at Harry who’s looking like he wants to punch him and Zayn kind of wants to as well. They head off to their first lesson and like always Zayn has to watch Niall’s girlfriend all over him usually he can ignore it but when it happens right in front of him he can’t. he’s tempted to push her off the desk during his next lesson but he stops himself for doing so.

Once the class ends he takes a little bit longer than everyone else to leave and he heads to the art room hoping no one is in there, he needs to be by himself if he wants to get his project started. He walks into the art room to find the teacher sitting at her desk, Zayn clears his throat and Mrs Dean looks up and she smiles as she sets her sight on Zayn, Mrs Dean is a little old lady from London and Zayn’s known her since he started in his first year,

“Mr Malik, to what do I owe the pleasure? Didn’t realise you were doing art this semester?”

“I decided to do it at the last minute, wanted to change from P.E to this but because of that I’ve got Mr Michaels instead.  I hope it’s okay I’m here for my free period, decided I wanted to think about my final project for this semester”

“it’s no worry at all, anything for my best student. Use anything you want, I’ve got to go to a meeting in a few minutes so I trust you to lock up”

“Of course, I will and thank you” Zayn puts his best smile on as Mrs Dean walks towards him and hands him the keys for the doors. She leaves a few minutes later and he closes the door behind her, he sits back at the desk in the middle of the room and gets started on his thinking process. He hears the bell ring an hour later but he doesn’t move, he keeps sitting down as the clock ticks on. His phone rings next to him and he ignores it, his mind focussed on something else.

A hand taps him on the shoulder he turns around to see Niall standing behind him with Paige attached to his hip,

“What’s up?”

“Just came to ask you if I could possibly have a lift home tonight? Louis taking Liam out for a date after soccer training…”

“Would rather not…”

“Okay…”

“I’m kidding Ni, of course I can take you home. What time are you finishing?”

“Around 4:45, that’s not too late is it?”

“Nah, all good, did you want a lift Paige?”

She stares Zayn down before turning her nose up at him, “No thanks” she whispers something under her breath making Zayn clench his fists under the table, “Okay, let me know if you change your mind” she says something again but Zayn chooses to ignore it. Niall and Paige end up leaving a few minutes later, he turns around as Paige’s whiny voice speaks again,

“You’re seriously going home with him?” Zayn turns back around and tries to calm himself down, god he hates her so much.

****

4:30 rolls around and Zayn decides to pack up and go so he can meet Niall on the soccer pitch. Liam and Harry are there and Harry looks like he wants to be somewhere else, Zayn laughs as he ruffles his hair when he approaches him,

“Hey guys”

“Hey mate, thought you were going home in your free period?”

“Nah, decided to stay…they almost finished?”

“Yeah, Niall’s on fire today. I haven’t seen him like this since his first year on the team”

Zayn watches as Niall runs up and down the field passing the ball back and forth to Louis, he feels a sense of happiness while watching him on that field.

Louis comes over a couple of minutes later and as usual Liam and Louis end up snogging in front of them all, Niall hits Louis over the head as he does. He looks to Zayn and waits,

“You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go before it gets worse” Zayn, Harry and Niall all say goodbye and head towards Zayn’s car. Niall climbs in the back and let’s Harry in the front, the three of them sit in silence as Zayn drives out the school parking lot and towards Harry’s house. Niall and Harry start up a conversation while Zayn sits and listens to what they’re talking about, he listens as Niall tells a story of what happened at the party last week that Zayn ended up not going to even though he said he would.

He finds himself laughing along. He pulls into Harry’s driveway and waits for Harry to get out, “I’ll text you later yeah?”

“Sure, thanks mate. See you tomorrow Niall” Harry waves as he heads inside the house, Niall climbs into the front seat as Zayn drives off towards his house. Niall and Zayn sit in silence the way home, Niall’s phone keeps buzzing and it’s starting to annoy Zayn a little bit but he doesn’t say anything as they pull into their street. They pull into Zayn’s driveway and Niall groans, “What’s wrong with you?”

Niall points and Zayn looks over to see Paige sitting on the hood of her car with a scowl on her face and it doesn’t soften when she looks over and into the car, “Shit, wouldn’t want to be you right now…”

“I know…thanks for the lift by the way, I appreciate it”

“No worries, see you tomorrow mate?”

Niall nods his head as he gets out of the car, Zayn gets out a few seconds later and leans against his car and watches Niall and Paige have a small argument on the front lawn of Niall’s house. He feels sorry for Niall right now, he hates how he’s always getting yelled at by Paige, Zayn locks his car and heads inside laughing as he hears Niall groan.

Zayn knows he’ll have to ask Niall what happened later.


	4. Chapter 4

They decide to make that a regular thing, every Monday and Thursday afternoon Zayn would finish his art and Niall would have soccer training then they would meet up and go home, sometimes they’ll all go out afterwards together but that usually ends up being awkward seeing as Liam and Louis can’t stop touching each other.

It’s Saturday night and Zayn’s standing in the middle of his room trying to find something to wear to this party tonight, Niall’s giving him advice and approving or disapproving when Zayn finds something to wear. After another 15 minutes of finding something in his wardrobe before he decides on his usual ripped jeans and band t-shirt, it’s not like he needs to dress up to impress someone (which is a lie)

The doorbell rings and he can hear Liam’s voice downstairs probably talking to his mum. He grabs his house key and his phone as he walks out his room, he gets down the stairs quite quick not because he wants to go but because he knows his mum will be asking too many questions and he knows Liam won’t be able to lie to her. “Hey mate, you ready to go?”

“Yeah, bye mum”

His mum coughs from behind him and he turns back around to see what she needs,

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Uh…I love you?”

“Yes but also be careful, don’t want a repeat of last time” Zayn can’t believe his mum is bringing what happened last time with Liam there, it’s not like he doesn’t know what happened cause he was there but it’s still embarrassing. He groans before turning around and heading out the door,

“Bye mum, love you”

She says goodbye and Zayn hears the door slam, looks like his family are happy he’s going out tonight. Liam looks at him and rolls his eyes as Zayn groans, Niall comes out the front a few seconds later and Zayn walks straight past him and down the road towards Harry’s street.

****

They get to Louis place at 9:30 and the place is already packed, they can even make their way in the front door without bumping into someone, they finally squeeze their way through and Zayn bumps into Harry who’s already started drinking,

“You’re here, finally”

“Yeah, how’s it been?”

“Ugh awful without you guys here, let’s get a drink”

The kitchen is packed and Niall is nowhere to be seen, they must’ve lost him when they came in, Louis sitting on the kitchen side with a cup full of drink and Liam’s already pressed against him after only being at the party for 5 minutes, so it looks like they’ll be occupied for a while.

“Seriously Lou? Let the guy breathe, he’s only been here for a few minutes…”

“Where did you get off too?”

“Paige…”

That’s all Niall needs to say for Zayn to want to start drinking and fast. Louis pours him a drink and he doesn’t care what it is he just downs it in one go. Harry grabs Zayn’s wrist and pulls him out of the kitchen despite Zayn protesting.

“What’s up? You okay?”

“Yeah, I needed to get some air…once again I swear Louis doing all of the usual stuff he does to piss me off”

A cheer comes from inside and Zayn knows exactly why, Niall’s probably done something and everyone finds it fascinating. Harry grabs the bottle he brought out with him and he takes a sip handing it to Zayn, the two of them pass it back and forth until it’s finished. They make their way inside, having to bump into people again, they end up joining the group of people surrounding what looks to be a ping pong table but is set up for beer pong.

Zayn knows what’s happening and he doesn’t know if he’s going to want to watch, he loves Niall but Zayn knows that Niall tends to show off when he’s been drinking. Speaking of Niall, he’s standing next to Louis up one end of the table while a two of the guys from the soccer team are at the other end. Niall’s holding the ball and he’s aiming to throw the ball into the cup, the ball is flying through the air before landing in the cup with a splash. The room is silent before getting loud with cheers from everyone around the table, Niall holds his arms up in victory and Zayn shakes his head at his friends antics.

“Who’s next? Anyone?”

The rooms silent before Harry speaks up, “Zayn will go!” Zayn turns around to glare at his friend, Harry knows he doesn’t usually participate in drinking games. Everybody is watching Zayn and waiting for his response, Zayn looks over at Niall and he’s watching him with a look in his eyes,

“Come on Zaynie…for me?” Niall puts on his best puppy dog eyes and Zayn stops himself for falling for them, “I’m good thanks mate, you know I’m not any good at this…”

“Why? You scared Niall’s going to beat you?”

Paige’s voice irritates Zayn so he decided to get her to shut up and stop her from mocking him later on, he looks at her and then to Niall before breaking out into a smirk,

“Alright mate, let’s do this”

“You want to make it a challenge?”

“As much as I want to, let’s just keep it simple. Maybe another time?”

Niall winks at Zayn before smiling widely and pulling him in for a sideways hug. Niall goes back over to his side and he’s pulled into a kiss by Paige, who obviously tries to whisper but Zayn can hear her even over the crowd, “You better win this game otherwise I won’t do that thing you like tonight”

Zayn watches as Niall blushes and smirks, Zayn feels sick after hearing that so he tries to focus on something else, Liam comes to stand behind Zayn, Louis also but he’s only doing it so he can keep hold of Liam. Harry goes to stand over with Niall after he complained about no one supporting him. Paige stands off to the side and Zayn laughs as she scowls after Niall made that comment, Niall fills the cups up and grabs the ball as Zayn talks to Liam,

“Do you think you’ll be able to drink all that stuff, you remember what happened last time? Niall’s quite good at beer pong, maybe you should have gone up against someone else like Louis” Zayn laughs as Louis protests and makes a big deal out of what Liam’s said about him, “Come on” Niall throws the ball to Zayn.

The game gets underway and the crowd is silent unless someone gets a ball in a cup or someone misses. The two are having a laugh at whatever happens whether or not the ball went in, it doesn’t take long for the game to finish.

Zayn holds the ball between his fingers and looks directly at one of the last two cups on Niall’s side of the table, he lifts his hand up and lines it up before throwing the ball. The ball goes straight into the cup and everyone on his side of the table cheers, Niall laughs as Zayn does a little victory dance and lines up his shot. Zayn tries to distract Niall as he gets ready to throw the ball but fails as Niall gets the ball straight into the cup, a little bit of its contents spilling over the side.

Zayn takes the ball out of the cup and throws it as he downs the whole cup within 20 seconds, everybody cheering as he does so. It's Zayn’s turn to go now and he focusses on the last cup on Niall’s side. The crowd goes silent as the ball hits the side of the cup before landing in it with a quiet splash. The crowd goes mad and starts cheering for Zayn, Louis picks him up in victory and Liam just pats Zayn on the back.

Niall’s on the other side of the table watching on with a smile on his face, he’s clapping and he’s staring at Zayn while trying to shut Paige out who’s whinging about something that Niall doesn’t have much of an interest in. Zayn approaches Niall and pulls him in for a hug,

“You did good, obviously not as good as me but if you ever want me to teach you some tricks, I can help you…” Zayn pokes his tongue out at Niall and he gets punched on the arm by Niall who’s laughing along with Zayn, “I’m going outside, you want to join me?”

“Sure, I’ll get us a drink…”

Zayn and Niall make their way through the crowd and Zayn heads out into the garden while Niall goes into the kitchen for the drinks, once he gets outside and away from everyone Zayn pulls his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lights one and takes a drag with a sigh. The music is loud and he taps is foot along to the beat, he sits back in the chair and looks up into the night sky. A hand touches his shoulder and he turns around to see Niall with a drink in his hand,

“Here you go, a drink for the champion”

“Thanks Ni, good game. Didn’t realise I had it in me to beat you at something, that almost never happens”

Niall flicks Zayn’s arm, “Shut up Malik” Zayn chuckle at Niall and the two of them sit in silence for a bit, “You are having fun, right? I know this isn’t something you usually do…”

“Of course, I’m having fun, why wouldn’t I?”

“Just asking…”

Niall smiles at Zayn as the back door opens and a voice yells, “Niall, come inside…I want you” Paige twists her hair between her fingers and Zayn can see Niall roll his eyes, he turns to speak to Paige in his annoyed voice,

“I’ll be there in a second!” Niall turns back to Zayn, “Duty calls. You coming back in or staying out here?”

“I’ll stay for a bit…thanks for the drink”

“No worries…I’ll come find you when it’s time to go”

“Sure”

Zayn takes a sip of his drink and finishes his cigarette, he stands up and brushes the back of his jeans before heading inside to find Harry or Liam, a couple of people pat him on the back for what happened earlier and someone hands him a drink which he gladly accepts, he downs the drink and goes to fill the cup up with something strong. He finds Harry sitting on the sof and he goes to sit down with him, the pair sit together and they start to silently judge all of the drunken idiots for the rest of the night.

****

It’s getting closer to 3:30am when Zayn, Niall and Harry decide to leave which is also when Louis and Liam decided they would start snogging on the sofa, dragging themselves out the front door and trying not to fall over onto the grass. The three of them have linked arms and they’re trying so hard to stand up and walk in a straight line, it’s proving nearly impossible. Zayn feels like he’s going to fall over at any second but that might have something to do with the fact that Niall is walking all over the place.

The cold wind blowing across their faces is making them cold, the alcohol in their system doesn’t help either. They finally get to Zayn’s house after taking their time, once on the grass Zayn drops down onto the ground and just lays there. He doesn’t feel like moving and he knows the other two wont either, he looks up at the sky as Harry lays down next to him, the two of them giggling for no reason whatsoever.

Niall’s over on his front garden but he’s not laying on the grass, he’s laying half on the flowerbed and half on the grass. Zayn doesn’t know why he finds it funny but he starts to laugh either way, Harry joining in a few seconds later and Niall after that. The three of them lay outside as sleep takes over their bodies.

Zayn wakes up the next morning/afternoon, he’s not sure, with his face on someone or something warm and he feels like shit, he doesn’t even remember half of what happened the night before all he remembers is drinking a lot and then that’s when he blacked out. He runs a hand through his hair and lifts his head up to see Harry snoring his head off with Niall who must’ve joined them before falling asleep, on his other side and is wrapped around his back. Harry starts to stir next to him,

“What-where am I?”

“My place…”

“How did I get here? I didn’t drive, did I?”

“No, we walked home, you never drove last night mate”

“Ugh good”

A groan comes from the other side of Zayn and he turns around to find Niall looking pale as ever, he’s holding his head and looks like he’s about to be sick at any second. Luckily Niall doesn’t puke all over Zayn’s front garden, he stands up and stretches before carefully sitting down. Zayn sit’s up and slowly drags himself into the house where he’s met with his family looking at him with amused looks on their faces,

“Don’t say a word”

His mum laughs as he goes over to the kettle and pours three big cups of coffee, he takes one look at his family and they look like they’re about to laugh in his face. he rolls his eyes as he walks out the kitchen and back out to the front lawn where Harry’s now awake and looking very much the same as Niall did before, “Here, thought this might help”

Harry looks at Zayn as he sits down and he rests his head on his shoulder, “Kill me now…”

“Drink up buddy, your gonna need it…”

“Why did I let you talk me into drinking?”

“I never did, you bought this all on yourself”

The three lay down on the grass again as the sun blares down on them, their eyes hurting from the brightness. It’s not long before they end up moving slowly inside the house, as soon as they get through the front door they all scatter and sit or lay down somewhere in the living room,

“Could just stay here all day…”

Zayn grunts in response and Harry throws up in the bucket that someone must’ve put next to him, someone stands in the doorway of the living room and starts laughing. Zayn looks up and he can see his mum standing in the doorway holding her phone in her hand,

“Mum, don’t you dare!” It’s too late, she’s already taken a photo. Usually Zayn would beg her to delete the picture but right now all he’s doing is focussing on trying not to throw up as the smell of food fills his nose. Zayn drags himself off the sofa and heads into the kitchen,

“Look who decided to fully wake up? I thought you wouldn’t move for the rest of the day…”

“Can you not right now? I’m too hungover for this…”

“I’m sorry but you had a good time last night?”

“Yeah, just remind me next time to never try and keep up with Niall…I feel like death, my head hurts and my mouth is dry”

“Serves you right…”

His mum walks out the kitchen and a loud groan comes from the other room and another voice whines, “Trisha! How dare you kick me when I’m down”

“Niall, be quiet”

Zayn laughs as he rests his head on the table in front of him, he closes his eyes for a second before being woken up by Harry, who sits down and looks worse now than he did before,

“Fucking hell, I never want to drink again” Zayn wraps his arm round Harry’s shoulders as he agrees with his friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Zayn spent the rest of the weekend in bed with the worst headache he’s ever had, lucky for him Niall was feeling the same way so they spent the majority of the weekend dying together, Harry joining in with their complaining but over the phone. They don’t hear from Liam and Louis all weekend but they don’t need too to know what they’re most likely doing.

Come Monday morning Zayn and Niall are still feeling their hangovers that they thought would have been gone by the morning, they arrive at school together and meet Harry who’s standing against his locker with sunglasses on and his head down, probably trying to stay awake.

“You alright mate, you look dead”

“Ugh, I feel it…what about you?”

“Feel like shit…Niall’s the same, wherever he is…”

Zayn opens his locker and doesn’t bother to look into it, he just stands there. Louis and Liam come down the halls and stops in front of Zayn and Harry looking just as rough as Zayn feels, he looks at Liam who’s got the same idea as Harry, sunglasses on even though he knows it isn’t going to help with anything. Louis gently taps Zayn’s shoulder,

“You aright boys?”

“Ugh no…I have the worst hangover ever”

Louis just laughs at Zayn, “Tell me about it, I spent the whole weekend with my head in the toilet, luckily no one was home all weekend…”

Niall comes walking over looking like he’s about to fall over, his sunglasses are falling off the top of his head. he rests his head on Zayn’s shoulder and groans, “Why? Why did I do this to myself?”

“I know…where have you been?”

“Bathroom…” That’s all Zayn needs to know otherwise he’ll be rushing to the bathroom in a minute. The five of them are all standing around when a loud voice speaks up causing them all to groan loudly, “Niall!”

“Satan? Is that you?” the five of them laugh as Paige comes walking down the hallway and latching herself onto Niall who wishes the ground would swallow him up. Zayn turns around and rests his head on the inside of the locker door groaning loudly as Paige’s whiny voice fills his ears, “What the fucks wrong with him?”

“He’s not feeling too good babe, leave him alone”

Zayn smiles at Niall as he turns around to face the group again, the bell rings loudly causing Zayn and the others to groan loudly which is what they’re going to be doing most of the day. Paige’s whiny voice yells out a goodbye to Niall and the boy leans against Zayn putting all his weight on him.

“I want to shut my locker but it’s going to sound like a gunshot” Zayn closes his locker but not all the way, he carries his English books slowly down the hall and to the classroom. The whole class staring at them all when they walk in and Zayn wishes that he slept through his alarm this morning, the teacher notices their sunglasses and asks if they can take them off. He looks over to Louis whose eyes are looking rather bloodshot, Liam looks like he’s been punched and he doesn’t get a look at Niall or Harry as they have already put their heads down on the desks in front of them.

The class drags on and when it’s time to go to next lesson they all take their time leaving the classroom. They all go their separate ways as three of them have P.E and Zayn’s laughing at the thought of them laying in the middle of the pitch as a game goes on around them. Zayn heads to the art room and walks into an empty room, he sighs in relief as he puts his stuff down on the desk.

He might use this time to have a nap instead of doing his art…

****

Someone lays their hand on Zayn’s arm causing him to shoot up and open his eyes quite quickly, the room spinning as he looks next to him to see Niall sitting on top of the desk watching him in amusement, “You’re an ass…don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry mate, I’m going to go and get some caffeine in me to keep me awake, Louis coming with me if you want to join?”

“Uh sure, why not”

“Nice, meet you by Louis car in 10?”

“Yeah” Niall walks out and Zayn picks his bag up off the desk and drags his feet out to the parking lot where a very sleepy looking Louis is waiting against his car and a very flustered looking Niall already in the car. Zayn ruffles his friend’s hair before leaning up against the car with him, “What’s up with Niall?”

“Guess…”

“Paige?”

“Yeah as usual…”

“Hey Lou? Smile…” He ruffles Louis hair again, the older boy smacking his hand away,

“Leave me alone, I’m not in the mood”

“Sorry…forgot what you were like when your hungover”

“Just get in the car before I leave without you…”

Zayn holds his hands up in surrender as he walks round to the side of the car, he gets in to the sound of Niall sighing like he’s given in to whatever Paige wants from him, “What’s happening now?”

“She’s being her usual self, she says I’m not paying her any attention and I’m always spending too much time with you…”

“Of course, she does…”

This is the one thing that Zayn hates about Niall is he lets Paige control him and she always has done since they started dating 2 years ago. Zayn knows that she knows about his feelings for Niall and he knows that it’s the only reason why she whines and begs for Niall’s attention whenever they hang out.

Louis looks at him in the rear-view mirror and rolls his eyes, the two of them share another look as Louis pulls out of the parking space.

****

They get back to school in time for soccer training and this time instead of Zayn going to the art room to work on his project he goes and sits with Liam and Harry and watch the practice. It’s only a couple of weeks before the final game of the season and Zayn knows how important it is to Niall that he be there for the game so he decided he’d come along and watch the training too.

He’s sitting on the bleachers with Harry who’s getting over his hangover, Harry’s laying down on the bleachers with his head in Zayn’s lap as Zayn watches Niall speeds down the pitch with the ball in front of him. Zayn’s in awe of how much Niall’s improved his game over the years, he watches as he kicks the ball into the net.

The practice is over 25 minutes later and Niall runs up to Zayn and jumps on his back, his sweaty body making Zayn squirm, “Get off you bloody menace!”

“Aw Zaynie, I thought you liked me all sweaty and gross?”

“Absolutely not, I don’t care if you’re my best mate, I will not tolerate you being all sweaty around me…”

“You’re no fun”

“Jesus, you two, can you stop flirting?”

 “Sorry Lou, forgot how jealous you are of mine and Zayn’s relationship…I’ll go and get changed then we can go if you want?”

“Sure” Zayn watches as Niall heads to the change rooms, he turns around to see Louis smirking and shaking his head, “What?”

“Nothing…”

“It better be nothing…I’ll see you guys tomorrow” Zayn heads to the change rooms to wait for Niall who comes out just as he reaches the entry to them. He looks a lot better now and Zayn’s lucky he won’t have to deal with a smelly, sweaty Niall all the way home.

****

The rest of the week at school it’s all been about the soccer team and how they’ve gotten into the semi-finals, every corner Zayn turns there’s always something to do with Friday night’s game. He forgot how crazy the school goes for the game and basically anything else the soccer team does, Niall’s been up and down all week. Zayn’s had to watch Niall have a breakdown about the game and what’s going to happen if they lose and if they do how it will all be is fault.

Louis been the same but not as bad as Niall, he’s lost it at one point too. The whole school are behind them and are making sure the team knows it, Paige has been the worst though. She’s been milking all the attention that Niall’s been getting for the game and she’s making sure everyone knows that she’s with Niall. Zayn wants to tell her to stop but he knows she’ll make a big deal out of that too.

It’s the morning of the second to last game of the season and Niall’s been acting quite calm same goes for Louis, it’s kind of weirding Zayn out a bit. The schools gone all out for the day, the halls are decorated with things to mark the occasion for the biggest game the schools ever been involved in.

Zayn just hopes that they didn’t go to all of this effort just for the team to lose…


	6. Chapter 6

Friday night rolls around and Zayn is anxious as he gets to the game with Liam and Harry, he knows the other two are feeling the same. They end up getting their seats and they end up sitting sitting on the cold bleachers outside by the soccer pitch and he’s a little nit cold but that could be because he’s nervous for Niall and Louis. Harry’s been on the right side of Zayn shaking his leg for the last couple of minutes and Liam’s doing the same on his left.

“Seriously? Can the game just start already?”

“I know mate…” Zayn wraps an arm round Harry’s arm and nudges Liam’s leg with his knee. The three of them sitting together and getting even more nervous as the time rolls around for the game to start. Everybody on the stands cheers at the team comes onto the pitch, Zayn, Liam and harry watch as Niall and Louis look for them in the crowd, Liam waves and Louis smiles brightly poking Niall and pointing to them standing up, Harry and Liam yell to them and Zayn finds himself doing the same,

“Go on! Kick their asses boys!”

Niall and Louis wave as they take their positions on the field, the coin toss is coming up and even though it’s not really something to be nervous about, Zayn is shitting himself to say the least. The away team end up winning that but that’s not as important as the game which is starting any second, the whistle blows and the whole crowd start to cheer and watch the game intensely, Zayn’s keeping his eyes on Niall and sometimes Louis. the two of them are working together and they both eventually kick the ball towards their goal, Louis gets the ball and he kicks it straight into the goal.

The crowd cheers and yells, Liam yells out to Louis and from the bleachers Zayn swears he can see Louis smiling widely and blushing,

“Go on Tommo!”

Zayn and Harry cheer together as the game gets underway again. Zayn watches as one of the players dribbles the ball down the pitch, it takes him a second before he realises it’s Niall, who else would it be really? Zayn keeps his eyes glued on Niall the whole time and doesn’t take his eyes off him for the rest of the first half, the whistle blows signalling half time and Zayn watches as Niall looks for the three of them. He waves as Niall gets distracted by none other than Paige, Zayn scoffs and turns to Liam who’s looking quite proud of his boyfriend.

The game ends with the away team losing by 2 goals, the whole crowd erupts into cheers as Niall kicks the ball directly into the net. Zayn watches as Niall runs towards his team mates and watches as he is lifted up by Louis whilst the rest of the team are giving him hi-fives and pats on the back. Zayn walks down off the bleachers and onto the pitch, he jumps on Niall’s back and kisses is forehead.

“Good job superstar!”

“Thanks mate, you going tonight?’

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re right, I’ll see you there?”

“Course…”

The party’s already underway when Zayn get’s there, he spots Niall in the kitchen and heads in there to join him. a drink is handed to him as soon as he gets into the kitchen, he can smell it and it doesn’t exactly smell the best but he drinks it anyway. He’s distracted by Louis asking him if he wants to play another game of beer pong and Zayn can’t exactly say no to him.

****

After 2 games of beer pong Zayn is back in the kitchen and filling his cup up with vodka and mixing it with coke, he feels a tug on his wrist and comes face to face with a red-faced Niall,

“Dance with me Zayn!”

Zayn laughs and shakes his head resulting in Niall slapping his arm and trying his best to get Zayn off the kitchen side “I don’t want to! Ask Harry”

“I would but he’s disappeared! Please Zayn, you know you want to!”

“Fine, only because you asked nicely”

Zayn jumps off the kitchen side and follows Niall into the middle of the makeshift dance floor, he grabs Zayn’s hips and pulls him in so their foreheads are touching. Niall starts to move his hips in a way which should be illegal and Zayn can’t help but feel a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watches Niall’s hips move. He feels like everybody else isn’t there and it’s just the two of them on the makeshift dancefloor, his heart beats fast when Niall slips his leg between his thighs and Zayn just hopes Niall doesn’t notice the beating of his heart.

Niall looks up at Zayn through his eyelashes and Zayn’s heart starts to flutter. He never realised how much of an impact Niall has on him until this moment, he smiles before looking up and around, he can see Louis and Liam on the other side of the living room with matching smirks on their faces and he just waves and Louis puts his thumbs up and Liam shakes his head. Zayn looks back to Niall as he pulls away, he looks into his eyes and he finds himself blushing as he looks down at the floor. A hand touches his chin and lifts it up, he comes face to face with Niall again and he examines his best friends face. Zayn finds himself leaning in and he can see Niall doing the same, the two of them are pressed chest to chest and Zayn’s stops when Niall rests his forehead against his. Zayn’s heart starts beating fast when Niall gently presses his lips to Zayn’s.

Zayn freezes up for a second before bringing his hand up to Niall’s neck and holding him gently as he presses his lips against Niall’s harder. He can hear a quiet moan from Niall and he kisses him a little bit harder and pulls him in more, Niall runs his hand through Zayn’s hair before pulling away and grabbing his hand, taking him upstairs and into Louis room.

Niall pushes Zayn against the wall once he closes the door and goes back to kissing him, he kisses his jaw and then proceeds to kiss his neck and Zayn moans as Niall continues kissing him as he gets on his knees,

“Can I?”

Zayn looks at Niall before nodding his head and Zayn closes his eyes as he moans.

****

Zayn wakes up the next morning and he’s all alone, half naked and in Louis bed, it must’ve been some party last night for him not to be able to remember what happened. His head hurts as he sits up and his lower back is killing him, he slowly stands up and gathers his clothes before quickly putting them on and heading out the door and down the stairs,

“Ah, he lives! How you feeling?”

“Like shit…”

“Oh, seems like you had fun though?”

“What?

“You know, you and Niall?”

“What did we do? He didn’t convince me to do anything stupid?”

“No…unless you call grinding on him and then proceeding to snog him in the middle of the floor stupid…”

Zayn looks up at Louis who’s smiling at him, “What!? I-I kissed Niall?”

“Uh, yeah you did and it looked pretty intense from where I was standing…”

Zayn’s stomach starts churning and he feels like he’s about to be sick, not because it disgusts him but because he kissed his best friend, his straight best friend at that. He starts to hyperventilate and he finds himself getting up and rushing over to the sink, he leans over the side and throws up. His hands shake as he lets it all out, he stands up and takes a small step back as tears form in his eyes and fall down his cheek.

He feels Louis wrap his arm around his shoulders and lead him into the next room, Zayn wipes the tears from his eyes and sits down on the chair in the corner. His hands continue to shake as Louis comes into the room with a cup of tea in his hands and places it in front of him, Liam’s now coming over to wrap his arms around Zayn’s waist.

“Hey, don’t cry”

Zayn sniffles and takes a sip of the tea Louis brought in for him, “I’m such an idiot, why did I do that?”

“Zayn, you’re not an idiot…you kissed your best mate, so what? It’s not like it was that bad…was it?”

“No, but I still can’t believe I did that…what if he hates me for it?”

“It’s Niall, he loves you more than anything, you know that”

Zayn nods his head and sips his tea again, “I know…do you think he remembers it?”

“Probably does, but that not bad, is it?”

“No, not really”

Zayn spends the rest of the weekend wondering how Niall’s feeling after he kissed him at the party, he’s feeling a little bit nauseous at the thought of Niall hating him. He doesn’t see Niall the rest of the weekend and he doesn’t know if he likes it or not.

****

Zayn gets to school Monday and the first thing he does is go straight to Niall and ask him what happened between them on Friday and whether or not he’s going crazy. He finds Niall standing by his locker, he walks over and he doesn’t even say hello, he just jumps straight into it,

“I’m sorry for kissing you on Friday!”

Zayn swears Niall tense up before he turns around, “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said I’m sorry I kissed you on Friday, I didn’t mean to…”

“Zayn, how drunk were you on Friday? We never kissed and if we did I’m pretty sure I’d remember it, what makes you think that?”

“I woke up in Louis bed the morning after the party and I remember what happened the night before and I’m 100% sure we danced together, you were grinding on me and then I kissed you and you kissed me back…”

“Zayn, we danced but we didn’t kiss. You must’ve been really drunk that night”

“Yeah, I probably was, your right. I’ll see you later yeah?”

“Yeah mate”

Zayn turns around and heads towards the doors to the carpark, he spots Liam standing by Louis car. He comes up behind Liam,

“He doesn’t remember anything”

Liam turns around, “That’s great! Right?”

Zayn shakes his head and Louis comes alongside and places his hands on Zayn’s shoulders and drags him along back into the building. They pass Niall and Zayn’s sure he saw Niall giving him a strange look, they all get into the classroom and Niall doesn’t even say anything else to Zayn before the class starts. Zayn’s heart feels heavy and he knows that the rest of the week is going to be like this, Niall always does this when he feels awkward and Zayn just hopes it won’t change anything.

****

*FRIDAY NIGHT*

Zayn’s sitting on the cold bleachers alongside Liam and Harry watching the game happening, after Niall acting strange towards Zayn all week he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to come tonight but he knew if he wasn’t there to support Niall and Louis, Louis would be ignoring him for the rest of the weekend.

There’s a couple of seconds left in the game and it’s up to Niall to score the final goal. Louis passes the ball to Niall and he starts to dribble it across the pitch, dodging anybody that gets in his way. Zayn keeps his eyes focussed on Niall as well as trying to keep them on the ball, Niall runs to the goal and pulls his foot back and he kicks the ball into the air. Zayn stands in the crowd and closes his eyes and for a second he thinks Niall’s completely missed the goal but the crowd starts cheering and he can hear everybody in the crowd and on the field chanting Niall’s name, he opens his eyes and looks at the score. His heart stops and starts to beat fast when he realises Niall just scored the final and winning goal in the championship game, the next thing he knows is Harry and Liam hugging him tightly and cheering for their friends and the rest of the team. The three of them watch as Louis runs towards Niall and grabs him by the waist and proceeds to lift him up.

The rest of the crowd are celebrating in their own way and Zayn watches as Niall’s team mates are cheering and chanting for him as they all rush towards him and form a massive huddle around him, patting him on the back and high-fiving him. Zayn looks at Harry and he winks at him before following Liam down onto the pitch from the bleachers. He watches as Liam goes down onto the pitch to wrap his boyfriend in a loving embrace. Zayn laughs at the two and looks around to see Niall trying to find him, Zayn’s just about to wave when Niall’s being pulled away by Paige.

Zayn goes over to join Harry and Liam who are jumping all over Louis and congratulating him, he smiles as he makes eye contact with Zayn. Zayn opens his arms and hugs Louis who holds on tight.

“Congrats mate, you did amazing!”

“Thanks, I’m glad you came”

“Of course, I was going to be here, where’s Niall?”

“Locker rooms…”

Zayn waves as he heads towards the locker rooms, he’s not sure what Niall’s reaction would be seeing as he pretty much ignored him all week. Niall’s just finished in the showers and is heading over to his bag to get dressed. Niall slips his shirt on when Zayn comes up from behind and grabs his wrist, spinning him around,

Zayn! How was I?”

“Amazing as always, you did great like always. You really did yourself proud tonight, you made all of us proud. You handled yourself really well…”

“Thanks mate”

Niall pulls Zayn into a hug and the two stand in the middle of the locker rooms, just the sound of the crowd and nothing else. Niall doesn’t let Zayn go, he just holds onto him tighter, Zayn pulls away after a few seconds and looks directly into Niall’s eyes. He doesn’t know what comes over him but finds himself leaning in and he doesn’t think he’s going to stop. He stops for a second before kissing Niall gently, Niall freezes for a second before pressing his lips harder against Zayn’s. Zayn knows that he should stop but he doesn’t, he’s wanted to kiss Niall for years but never got the chance to until now. Niall pulls away 30 seconds later and he looks a little bit shocked and Zayn starts to feel sick, he feels like he’s a second away from crying. Zayn moves backwards,

“I-I’m sorry…I-I should go…”

“Zayn” it’s too late, Zayn’s already gone and he walks towards the carpark, he stands against his car and hits his head on the top before getting in and driving off. He can’t believe he kissed his best friend again and this time it was a sober kiss and now Niall will remember this one.

****

He goes straight home after the game, not wanting to see anybody right now. He takes himself up to his room and he falls face first onto his bed and groans into his pillow. How could he be so stupid? Why would he kiss Niall knowing he has a girlfriend that he’s probably celebrating with right about now? Why would he kiss him again? He feels like an idiot right now and he wishes the ground would swallow him up.

He turns onto his back and stares at the ceiling wanting to do nothing but cry, he looks at his phone and sighs,

 _Niall- 10 missed calls_  
Louis- 3 missed calls  
Harry- 3 messages and 4 missed calls  
Liam- 4 messages and 1 missed call

He puts his phone down and finds himself itching for a cigarette, he walks over to the window and opens it a little bit, lighting his cigarette and taking a slow drag of it. He rests his head on the window frame and let’s his phone ring from behind him, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now especially Niall. He doesn’t want his best friend to yell at him over the phone for kissing him and potentially embarrassing him, Zayn’s embarrassed himself by kissing Niall, who’s got an annoying girlfriend.

He puts out his cigarette and closes the window, his phone ringing once again behind him. He looks at who it is and presses the red button not caring if that person doesn’t like what he’s done. He turns his phone off and gets under the covers, his eyes filling with tears as he hides under the cover.

He currently wrapped up in his quilt cover and watching Netflix. There’s something being thrown at Zayn’s window, luckily, he’s awake so he doesn’t have to wake himself up, he pauses the video he’s watching and gets up to see what’s happening. He looks down to see Harry standing on the grass holding a bottle of Jack Daniels, he’s grinning and waving the bottle around, Zayn opens his window,

“What do you want? It’s 1 in the morning and I’m tired…”

“Get dressed, we’re going out…meet me at my car in 20?” Harry walks off and leaves Zayn to wonder what the hell is going on, Zayn does what Harry tells him, and he puts on his jeans and grabs his jumper before placing a beanie on his head and a pair of shoes. He grabs his phone and house key as he quietly tiptoes out of his room and down the stairs careful not to wake his family.

He closes the front door quietly and heads towards Harry who’s sitting on the hood of his car reading a text on his phone,

“Hey, you ready?”

“Yeah, get in.”

Harry reverses his car out the driveway and the pair sit in silence as they drive through the neighbourhood. Houses pass and Zayn starts to wonder where they’re going when they start to drive outside of the neighbourhood and towards the sea, “Where are we going?”

“Liam asked me if I wanted to come and we both decided we’d come out here just to get away, Louis is here too. He was going to pick you up but I said I’d do it instead…you alright with that?”

“Of course, it’s fine, although after earlier I would have preferred to stay at home and stay in bed”

“That’s exactly why we decided to come out here, you need to stop worrying okay? Niall isn’t going to be here anyway, he said something about meeting Paige?” Harry continues driving and Zayn sits silently and tries not to cry at the thought of Niall telling Paige everything that happened and possibly laughing at how stupid he is for kissing Niall, the radio plays quietly in the background, the sky pitch black as they continue driving. Harry drives towards the lookout and parks the car next to Louis, who’s standing against the side of his car with his arms crossed.

Zayn step out the car and the first thing he sees is Louis walking towards him and arm wrapping around his shoulders, “You alright Lou?”

“The question is, are you okay? we heard from Niall what happened, and he seemed pretty upset when he told us”

“I’m so embarrassed if anything and I’ve probably put a strain on our friendship”

“I highly doubt that, get yourself a drink and try to forget about it for a bit, yeah?” Louis taps Zayn on the back and smiles before getting himself a drink. Zayn grabs the bottle that Harry has in his hand and he takes a huge sip, feeling it burn in the back of his throat.

***

It’s only been an hour and Zayn feels a little bit tipsy, he doesn’t care though as he takes another sip of the drink he’s been sharing with Harry for the last 15 minutes. He’s trying so hard not to think about his kiss with Niall but it’s not happening, his mind keeps racing back to the look on Niall’s face when he kissed him. Zayn turns to find Louis and Liam gone so he lays his head on Harry’s shoulder,

“You okay? You seem sad…”

“Just thinking of earlier, how could I be so stupid? Why would I kiss my straight best friend?”

“Don’t know Z, but we all kiss our best friends at some point…I know I have”

“Really? I didn’t know that…who was it? When was it?”

“Liam…and it was a few weeks ago. It was at the party after you and Niall had gone outside, we were in the kitchen and I kissed him, don’t know what came over me but I did, and I had never been more embarrassed”

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry Haz”

“Ah it’s fine, if I’m being honest he’s not the best kisser”

“I know your joking but it’s nice to know I’m not alone in a situation like mine” Zayn doesn’t know what he’s doing but he quickly leans forward and kisses Harry before pulling away.

The two have a laugh and share the rest of the bottle, finishing it just as Liam and Louis come back from doing what they were doing with matching smirk on their faces.


	7. Chapter 7

Zayn feels something tickling his nose, he tries to open his eyes, but the sun is shining right into them. He blinks again before finally opening them to see Harry has fallen asleep with his head on Zayn’s chest, for a second he forgets where he is but then when he looks around to see the town down below. He tries to sit up but Harry doesn’t seem to want to move, he taps Harry on the head before sitting up.

Harry stirs form on top of him before sitting up and rubbing his eyes, the two share a look before looking away and sorting themselves out.

“I’m sorry for last night, I didn’t mean to kiss you”

“Zayn, it’s fine. We were drunk and besides I’m not going to do what Niall did, okay?”

“Yeah”

“Let’s get food and leave the other two to find their own way home”

Zayn nods and the two get in Harry’s car and drive off towards home. When Zayn gets home later on that morning he walks through the front door to find his mum standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, went out last night with the boys”

“That’s nice, Niall came round this morning”

“What for?”

“Said he wanted to talk, it was important? Anyway, I said you’d give him a call later when you got back, anything I should worry about?”

“It’s fine, love you”

****

Zayn doesn’t end up calling Niall at all that day, he doesn’t want to hear what Niall has to say. He doesn’t want his heart to break even more. He spent the whole day in bed and thinking of everything that’s happened.

Zayn’s fast asleep and in the middle of a dream when he hears something being thrown at his window, he’s not in the mood for this, it’s way too early for him to be up. He squints as he checks his phone and he notices it’s 3:00am on a Sunday morning, he rolls over and tries to ignore the noise at his window. Sooner the noise its pissing him off so he gets up and goes to the window.

He looks down to see the one person he never expected to see. Zayn wonders what the hell he’s doing here this early so he puts on a jacket and quietly tiptoes out of his room and down the stairs, he slowly opens the door and walks round to the side of the house and he comes face to face with Niall who smells horrible. He takes a closer look at the boy and notices he’s drunk, he sighs as he whispers to Niall,

“Oi, what the fuck are you doing? It’s 3 in the bloody morning!”

“Zaynie!” Niall throws his arms around Zayn and he pushes him off before grabbing his wrist and examining Niall’s face, “Niall…are you drunk?”

“No, I’m Niall…hah I’m funny!”

“You are not funny, why are you drunk? Why are you standing outside my house this early?”

“Just because” Niall stumbles backwards and Zayn grabs him before he falls over, he stands him up straight and grabs his face before looking into his eyes,

“Niall, look at me? We need to get you sobered up okay? I don’t think you’re going to want a repeat of last time, yeah?”

He wraps Niall’s arm around his waist and takes him inside, the cold air blowing against Zayn’s face sending a shiver down his spine. He’s able to get Niall inside without any trouble and without anyone from his family waking up, he helps Niall up onto the kitchen side before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and handing it to him. He untwists the cap and helps Niall drink some of it down, he walks away and reaches to the top of the kitchen cupboard and pulling down the medicine box and grabbing a couple of aspirin for Niall to take when he wakes up in the morning.

He turns around to see Niall opening and closing his eyes, he shakes his head and walks back over and gently slapping him on the face, “Oi wake up sleepyhead, let’s get you to bed?” Niall drapes over Zayn and Zayn once again is not even surprised at how light he is. It takes them a few minutes before finally getting up the stairs, he opens his door and lays Niall down on his side. He grabs the bin and puts it down beside the bed, he puts the aspirin and the remaining water next to him because Zayn knows Niall’s going to need it. He looks at the time and it’s nearly 4:00 in the morning, he curses Niall before going around to the other side of his bed and climbing under the covers. He lays on his back and slowly drifts off to sleep.

Zayn wakes up a few hours later and looks beside him to see Niall sleeping peacefully next to him. He needs to ask Niall what happened but right now he’ll let the drunk boy sleep.

Zayn’s sitting downstairs, his family out for the afternoon, when Niall comes down the stairs looking horrible. He walks in and sits down next to Zayn and the two look directly in each other’s eyes for a few minutes before Zayn speaks up,

“What the hell is wrong with you? You scared me last night!” Zayn slaps Niall’s arm hard.

Niall starts rubbing his arm, “I’m sorry Z, I don’t know what came over me. I really didn’t expect you to even wake up let alone help me especially what I did to you this week”

“Niall, it’s fine. You know I would always help you, drunk or not. Now, before we talk about anything else how about you get in the shower and freshen up? I can’t have you stinking of alcohol the whole day”

***

Niall comes back down the stairs in a pair of Zayn’s track pants and old band shirt, looking better then he did earlier. Zayn’s sitting in the kitchen waiting scared of what to say to Niall, he doesn’t want to say anything that could mess up their friendship but he’s pretty sure him kissing Niall has already ruined it a little bit. Niall sits down in front of Zayn who’s trying hard not to make eye contact with Niall, the two speak up at the same time,

“I”

Niall sits back in the chair and motions for Zayn to start, “No, you go first”

“Okay…I just wanted to apologise for what I did the other day, it was rather shitty of me and I don’t know what came over me. I just needed to kiss you, okay? It was a heat of the moment kind of thing and I know it must’ve made you uncomfortable but again, I just had to do it”

“Zayn…”

“Can I just say that I do love you Niall, as in more than a friend and I know you don’t feel the same way which is fine. I’ve been able to hide these feelings for you for 3 years and I can do it for many more years. You’re my best friend Niall, you always have been and you will always be my best friend no matter what happens between us”

“Zayn…I”

“Ni, can you just not say anything? I’m so embarrassed so it would be nice if we could forget about what I’ve said and move on?”

Zayn gets out of his chair and starts to walk away leaving Niall sitting in the chair confused about everything. Niall shakes his head before getting out of the chair and following Zayn who’s halfway up the stairs,

“Zayn!”

“Niall, just go home. I don’t want you to say anything, just please go”

“I won’t not until you let me say something”

“Niall, I’m serious! Just go home!”

“Fuck sake Zayn!” Niall reaches and grab Zayn’s wrist before gently pushing him against his bedroom door, Zayn’s back hits the door and he looks up into Niall’s eyes, he’s not sure what Niall’s going to do but he’s preparing to be punched. He closes his eyes and waits for it to happen, but it doesn’t, instead Zayn feels lips on his own and a hand reaching to wrap round his neck.

Zayn can’t think straight not when Niall is kissing him. He’s not sure what to do, so all he does is stand there in shock until Niall gently squeezes the back of Zayn’s neck which get Zayn back into reality and he starts to move his lips against Niall’s. The two stand against the door and Zayn feels himself getting lightheaded so he pushes Niall away, Zayn rests his forehead of Niall’s and the only sound that can be heard is their heavy breathing.

Niall lets go of Zayn’s neck, steps back and just…runs. He rushes down the stairs and Zayn feels tear form in his eyes and when he hears the door shut he just breaks. He punches his door before sliding down it and placing his head in his hands, he lets out a loud sob as he grabs his phone and calls Liam knowing that Louis probably round so he doesn’t have to call him and Liam would tell Harry.

“Li-Liam? I need to talk to you…please?”

He hangs up and continues to cry against the door as he waits for the others to come round.

***

The front door opens 20 minutes later and the sounds of footsteps are loud, a body drps down next to Zayn and wrpas him up in a hug,

“What happened?”

“Niall…”

“Oh Z”

Louis whispers and kisses Zayn’s forehead, Zayn lets out another sob as he feels Louis pull him up off the floor and helps him down the stairs. He falls into Liam’s arms and Harry wraps his arms around the two of them, Zayn sits on one of the chairs in the kitchen as the others gather around him. He can hear Harry and Louis whispering behind him. He notices Harry leaving the room but doesn’t say anything,

“Where’s Harry going?”

“He’s going to talk to Niall, see what happened. Which is something I need you to tell me, what happened, and do I need to hurt Niall?”

“No, you don’t need to do that. It’s…okay, so Niall came round at 3’o clock this morning and he was completely drunk. He wasn’t making much sense, so I bought him in and helped him sober up, which was a bit of a challenge, but I was able to do it. Anyway, this morning when he woke up and I let him freshen up we sat in the kitchen and I explained what happened and what was going through my mind. I told him I loved him more than a friend and how I kept my feelings to myself for a few years and I can do it for more.   
I got up and left once I finished and headed up the stairs, next thing I know Niall and I are yelling, I’m telling him to go home and he’s telling me he wants to talk to me. After that he grabbed my wrist, pushed me gently against the door, I thought he was going to punch me but instead he kissed me. It took me a few seconds but then I kissed back”

“What else?”

“I pushed him away to catch my breath, and then he ran. Didn’t even say anything, just turned around and ran out the house which is when I completely broke down, which you saw, and I called Liam”

“I’m going to talk to him!”

“Louis, you don’t have to…”

“I want too”

Louis leaves and Zayn’s left with Liam who’s trying to figure out why Niall would to that to Zayn. “I’m sorry mate. That was a dick move, he’s an idiot”

“Yeah, you’ve been in this situation, right?”

“No? why?”

“Nothing, I thought you and Harry were in this sort of situation?”

“Yeah…we were but it’s all cleared up now and Harry knows and is fine with everything, but it’s different with you and Niall. You two have always been in love with each other, I remember when Louis moved to town and he used to hang off us all the time, mostly you, but I remember taking one look at Niall and I could see jealousy in his eyes”

“Liam, we were 13 years old when Lou moved to town, I highly doubt he was in love with me then”

“No, he might not have been, but he looked like he was about to punch Louis whenever he kissed you on the cheek, that means something”

“Liam, even if that’s what it looked like it doesn’t change the fact he’s straight and currently in a relationship with a girl”

“Okay, you’re right, but believe me when I say he loves you more than you know” Louis comes back into the house at that time with Harry trailing behind him.

“How was he? Actually don’t tell me, I don’t want to know what he said to you”

Zayn gets out of his chair and walks into the living room leaving the other three in the kitchen unsure of what to do next.


	8. Chapter 8

Over the rest of the day all four stay in Zayn’s room for the majority of the time, Zayn would never say it out loud so the others don’t give him a look, but he feels empty that Niall isn’t next to him. He loves them all but Niall’s the one he wants right now to comfort him, but he can’t because Niall’s the reason why Zayn needs comforting.

Zayn sits on the window sill with Louis and the two of them are smoking, Zayn’s just staring at Niall’s room which is empty. Zayn can hear a couple of voices in the distance and he knows one of them all too well, he looks down to see Niall outside his house with Paige behind him yelling about something. Zayn can’t help but laugh as he waits for the two of them to enter Niall’s room, a feminine voice yells and Zayn can hear it through Niall’s closed window, it hurts Zayn’s ears, he turns to Louis and they both laugh together feeling sorry for Niall.

They watch as Paige continues yelling at Niall, she turns to the window when she sees Niall looking over. Her face changes as she walks over to close the curtains, Louis sitting laughing and waving as Harry and Liam sit and look on from behind Zayn. Once the curtain closes Zayn feels a little bit better, he just can’t look at Niall right now.

***

The rest of the weekend was spent moping around and hating himself for even kissing Niall in the beginning. He’s dreading going to school and seeing Niall, he knows Niall’s going to be wanting to talk but Zayn’s not really interested, he wants to keep what happened the other day buried deep and never to be brought up again.

He walks in the building and towards his locker, most people are staring at him as he walks which is…odd to say the least. Usually people don’t look his way but today it’s like their challenging him for some reason. He gets to his locker when Louis rushes up to him out of breath, Liam and Harry are walking behind him with worried looks,

“Whoa, Louis calm down? What is wrong with you today?”

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what? Did someone catch you and Liam in the bathroom again?”

“No, it’s about Paige and Niall!”

“What happened? Did he propose to her in the middle of the carpark? Cause if that happened, I don’t want to know”

“No! Niall broke up with her yesterday afternoon! Isn’t that good news?!”

“Yeah I guess…but I don’t really care”

“I know you do and you can agree, it’s good news! Well not for you exactly…” Zayn shakes his head and looks at Louis in confusion,

“Louis, what are you talking about? What do you mean it’s not good news for me?”

“Niall told her about your kiss and I guess she’s blaming you for the break-up…oh shit!”

A few people stop talking and they all look directly at Zayn with wide eyes, “Zayn Malik!” an all familiar squeak comes from behind Zayn, he turns to look and he finds Paige at the end of the hallway with her face screwed up and arms crossed. Louis stands next to Zayn with Liam on the other side, Harry’s behind Zayn as she walks down the hallway.

“What do you want Paige? I didn’t realise we had a meeting with Satan this morning”

“Fuck off Tomlinson!” Paige looks at Zayn, “You scared Malik? That’s why you can’t stand up for yourself, you need you bitch to do it for you?”

“Paige, leave him alone, he’s done nothing!”

“He took Niall away from me, that’s what he’s done”

Zayn looks at her and speaks up, “Paige, don’t you maybe think the reason why Niall broke up with you is because your annoying and clingy? He didn’t break up with you because of me, it was all his decision, so just go away before you embarrass yourself”

“Besides sweetie, if you didn’t sleep around behind Niall’s back you would still have him”

Zayn laughs as he turns back towards his locker but not before he feels something hit him and his cheek starts to sting, he looks around to see Paige with a smug look on her face and her friends laughing. Zayn just laughs and shuts his locker, “Really Paige? That’s the best you can do?”

Zayn walks away, Louis, Liam and Harry following behind laughing as they can hear Paige complaining to her friends about Zayn not crying after she slapped him. They walk out to the carpark and Zayn spots Niall sitting on the hood of his car, he looks sad? Zayn’s not even sure. Louis and Liam go one way and Harry goes the other as Niall stands up and waits for Zayn to approach him.

“Hey Z”

“Hey, heard your single now? How’s that going?”

“I am, I’m okay with it”

“You’re Niall Horan, you won’t be single for long. What are you doing here? Didn’t think you’d come to school today, I thought you wouldn’t want to see me after what I did for the second time. I thought you hated me…”

“I couldn’t hate you Zayn, I care about you too much to hate you. why would I throw away a friendship with you because of a kiss? That would be stupid, Liam didn’t do that when Harry kissed him. I’m so sorry that I ran that day…”

“Tell me why you ran? Cause that hurt me, I was heartbroken when that happened”

“I think we should sit down, yeah? Might be best…”

Zayn nods and they both sit down on the hood of Niall’s car, Zayn looks and waits for Niall to start talking again,

“I don’t know why I ran at first but then when I got home, I sat on my bed and stared at the ceiling then I asked myself that question, ‘Why did I run?’ and if I’m being honest, I was terrified. Not in a bad way, I was terrified to stay there and watch as you realise that it wasn’t love that you had for me but it was lust. I ran as soon as I had the chance to and I am so sorry Zayn, I shouldn’t have done that but in that moment, it’s all I knew how to do”

“You are an idiot, Niall Horan. You are a fucking idiot, why the fuck would I kiss you the first time after the game? I’m pretty sure I did it because I love you and wanted to see what would have happened.”

“I didn’t know, okay!”

“Niall, I’ve kissed you three times now, I mean we were drunk the first time but still, I wouldn’t have kissed you if I didn’t have true feelings for you.”

Zayn looks at Niall and smiles before Niall places his hand on Zayn’s cheek and leans in, Zayn’s shocked at first but then he kisses Niall back. It’s everything Zayn imagined and more, he knows Niall isn’t going to run away now seeing as he knows Zayn loves him for real. They pull apart and they both start laughing,

“Wow, okay…I have to admit that’s better than the last time”

“Of course you do. I’m going to kiss you again, I can only imagine what you’d say about this one”

Niall leans back in and kisses Zayn again, they part when they hear whistles and shouts from Louis and Harry. They turn to look at the three of them and watch as Liam slaps Louis on the arm, Zayn shakes his head and fins himself laughing at his best friends.

The bell rings and Niall stands up, reaching out his hand and waiting for Zayn to take it. Zayn’s unsure at first but take Niall’s hand and the two walk into the school watching Paige’s face as they walk past her, she looks annoyed but also happy. They smile as they walk into the classroom together, the other three following in behind.


	9. Chapter 9

It’s been months since Zayn and Niall finally got their shit together and it’s the happiest Zayn’s been since the beginning of the year. The rest of the year goes fast and graduation rolls around and all of the boys are happy to get out of this town and go to London for university and both couples are still happy.

There was a moment when Zayn thought Louis and Liam would be doomed considering there was a moment when the kiss that Liam shared with Harry was mention when Liam was drunk one night. Louis didn’t speak to Liam or Harry for a couple of weeks but he finally got over it, Niall and Zayn on the other hand have been happy and there have been no troubles at all.

It might have taken a year to finally admit his feelings for Niall to Niall but in the end it was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished! The ending was rushed but I gave up on it as soon as I started getting halfway through. I hope you enjoyed in nonetheless :)


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